Oven is cooking great and I'm finally ready to cover my approx 38" outside the insulation, refractory, dome oven so I can forever lose the blue tarp & cook throughout the snowy winter! I'd like to keep the igloo shape. I figured on using 1/2" hardware cloth for the stucco base coat based on suggestions in this forum. Exactly what to do for stucco is still up in the air.

I talked with a stucco manufacturer... Parex... RE what I'd need. They tell me to use their 4.5 ounce reinforcing mesh and their Armorwall 100 or 300 as a base coat. They also say that THIS IS NOT WATERPROOF. I'm told I would need another 3/32" coat of their Parflex with possibly another layer of reinforcing mesh of some sort, on top of the base coat to seal from water. Problem is finding this stuff in less than 50 lb pales.

So my questions are;
1) Is all the above necessary & in the best interest of my oven?
2) What techniques & materials do others here use for a water-tight, weather-proof dome?
3) How do I determine how much material is needed?

I have yet to come across anything in my reading that addresses making sure the stucco dome will be waterproof... so as to protect my expensive insulation blanket.

I intend on having the final layer colored a burnt orange. Suggestions?

Any tips, techniques and answers to my above questions are appreciated. It will be cold soon!

You pretty much are going my route. If you dredge through my final posts, you can see how I accomplished the task. I used an acrylic product made by Dryvit - you can get it in any color you want. Being acrylic, it is probably as close to water proof you can get with an igloo shape. I built a 42 inch and bought 10 gallons. I think 5 would do it - I just sucked at shaping the stuff so I bought more. I have a butt load left over for touch up

I'm a little unclear... did you do the chicken wire over the vermiculite, then mortar over the wire? So the mortar is your shells base coat, then 2 layers of acrylic over that?? No reinforcement for the acrylic layers, correct? What kind of mortar did you use?

In my case, I will not be using any armature or support other than the insulating blanket. My plans are to lay 1/2" hardware cloth over the blanket as tight as possible (see pix). I will cut the edges of the blanket on an angle to give it a smooth shape 1st, then my intensions are to form the hardware cloth as tight as possible to the blanket. I'm hoping to be able to base & finish coat over that.

Does anyone see any flaws with this plan? Other than that, just need to get clear on exactly what materials to use to give the shell strength & keep it water tight.

I roughly formed the dome using rebar, then put the chicken wire around that. You kinda have to slop the vermiculite through the wire. At that point I just used type S mortar. I'm not familiar with hardware cloth so I can't help you there.

I won't be using vermiculite. So I'm wondering if I should use something as a backing for the stucco or if half inch hardware cloth with a half inch layer of stucco right on the blanket will be fine.

Also, I've found this stuff by Quikrete called Qwikwall Surface Bonding Cement that supposedly I can pick up at my local Home Depot. 2 half inch layers of this mixed with their acrylic fortifier is supposed to be strong & water tight. Does anyone have experience with this stuff?

Hey wawazat,,
I used the Quikrete SBC,, I've said it Once I will say it a thousand times,,, LOVE THIS STUFF.... covered my block foundation and dome with it. Added the Acrylic fortifier for watrproofing and terra cotta color.. I have a 42 inch dome and used 2 bags just for the dome and that gave me 1/2-3/4 inch coverage...
For a smooth finish you can just trowel it on
For a slightly rougher finish you can trowel it on and wipe it with a grout sponge
One Note, You can mix by hand, but a mixer is recommended....
I also used half inch harware cloth for my vermicrete it worked fine,,,

Is there a reason your not using the vermicrete,,, Insulation is key to an oven..

Hey wawazat,,
I used the Quikrete SBC,, I've said it Once I will say it a thousand times,,, LOVE THIS STUFF.... covered my block foundation and dome with it. Added the Acrylic fortifier for watrproofing and terra cotta color.. I have a 42 inch dome and used 2 bags just for the dome and that gave me 1/2-3/4 inch coverage...
For a smooth finish you can just trowel it on
For a slightly rougher finish you can trowel it on and wipe it with a grout sponge
One Note, You can mix by hand, but a mixer is recommended....
I also used half inch harware cloth for my vermicrete it worked fine,,,

Is there a reason your not using the vermicrete,,, Insulation is key to an oven..

Cheers
Mark

Yes, this oven will have to come down in a year or 2 when I move. At that point I can see myself using more insulation... probably another layer or thicker blanket. Are people using vermiculite because it costs less? The blanket is just so easy to work with, why not use all blanket? Besides, I've noticed that the insulation board that is used under the hearth alone doesn't insulate that well. It gets very hot under my oven. I'll have to address that next time too.

Anyway, you did one 1/2-3/4" layer? Did the 2 bags cover the dome and walls? I just have the dome, so maybe 2 bags even if I do 2 layers??

How much did this stuff penetrate the 1/2" hardware cloth? So much so that I might need some kind of backing over the blanket to fill any gaps... or, if I angle the seams of the blanket - smoothing out the gaps, do you think I can get the hardware cloth close enough and apply it right over the blanket? Does the Quikrete fall right through or is it sticky enough to adhere to the back of the hardware cloth when pushed through? If it falls through, maybe I can use aluminum foil to save the blanket so I can reuse it when I tear down & rebuild.

I have the rough look envisioned... is the the grout sponge used dry or wet?

Do you have a pic so I can see the terra cotta color and how you did your stucco finish?!

Ok, I've seen your pix. So is the vermicrete you mentioned sort of a base coat concrete? I didn't realize this was a concrete substance... isn't regular vermiculite just poured in like a gravel/sand? Is that the brown layer? Did you use mesh for the vermicrete right over the blanket? Did you use another layer of mesh for the stucco? Did you finish your stucco with the grout sponge? Did you paint on your terra cotta finish?

No part of this website or content thereof may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, nor may any part of this website be stored in a database or other electronic retrieval system, or any other website, without the prior written permission of Forno Bravo.